2014 Draft: First Round Thoughts
1st Overall: DE Jadeveon Clowney to Houston Texans
No surprise here. Clowney was far and away the most talented player of this year’s draft. He was the Andrew Luck of pass rushers, a once-in-a-decade prospect at his position. Speaking of Andrew Luck, the Texans and Colts are in the same division, so Luck will have to face Clowney and teammate J.J. Watt twice a year. He can’t be feeling very lucky at all tonight.
3rd Overall: QB Blake Bortles to Jacksonville Jaguars
This pick, however, was very much a surprise. OLB Khalil Mack or WR Sammy Watkins were the consensus picks for the Jags to take at 3, as it was seen there were just too many holes to fill to justify reaching for a quarterback in a draft with no Andrew Luck-type signal caller. The only QB the media thought the Jags might go for was college football sensation Johnny Manziel.
Instead of the shorter-than-ideal celebrity scrambler, Jacksonville opted for a 6’ 5” pocket passer who still needs some development. This sounds unfortunately close to Blaine Gabbert, but Bortles could also turn out to be the next Ben Roethlisberger. Only time will tell.
8th Overall: CB Justin Gilbert to Cleveland Browns
The Browns did some maneuvering to get to this pick, trading down from 4th to 9th overall and receiving the Bills’ 2015 first round pick and a fourth round pick this year in exchange. Cleveland then traded up from 9th to Minnesota’s 8th overall selection by giving up a fifth round pick.
This crooked road led the Browns to taking cornerback Justin Gilbert from Oklahoma State. Gilbert is excellent in coverage but he struggles to tackle consistently, which will frustrate fans if he cannot correct this problem in his NFL career. But with the cornerback pair of Gilbert and Joe Haden, it won’t be easy for receivers to get open against Cleveland.
20th Overall: WR Brandon Cooks to New Orleans Saints
This may be the best pick of the first round this year. Brees already has his big target in TE Jimmy Graham, and now he has a speedy slot receiver in Cooks. With these weapons, Brees may break his own absurd season-highs in 2014.
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